Transcript PRINCIPLES OF SOUND DESIGN

PRINCIPLES OF SOUND DESIGN
Sound Design
 the expressive use of sound throughout a film
in relation to its images and the contents of
its narrative
 the “sound designer” executes this design,
which became the name for this job during
the production of Francis Ford Coppola’s
Apocalypse Now (1979).
 Walter Murch’s brilliant work on that film
elicited the credit for that term
Basic types of sound
 Realistic sound – derived from actual sources
(footsteps, voices, cars, etc.)
 Synthetic sound – invented and have no
counterpart in real life (light sabers in Star
Wars, for example)
Characteristics of Sound
 Direct sound – sound that comes
immediately from the source (spoken
directly into the microphone)
 Reflected sound – sound that is first
reflected off surrounding surfaces in
the environment to produce a slight
reverberation. Does not come
directly to the microphone
 Ambient sound – generalized noises
in the recording environment (plane
flying overhead, for example)
Codes of Sound Design
 1) The Sound Hierarchy
- Dialogue – most
important
- Music – 2nd
- Sound Effects – third
Robert Altman’s Nashville
(1975) plays with this
hierarchy
Codes of Sound Design
 2) Sound Perspective
- Sound that embodies the properties of the
physical spaces seen on screen
- use of sound to convey information about
physical space
- often, but not always, correlates with visual
perspective (long shot = sound farther away
from audience)
Codes of Sound Design
 3) Synchronous and
Nonsynchronous
Sound
- Synchronous –
matched with a clear
source on screen
- Non – does not match
with any source
Codes of Sound Design
 4) Sound Bridge
- dialogue or sound effects are laid across, or
bridge, two or more shots or scenes
- shift of synchronous and non-synchronous
in a way that establishes unities of action and
time across the edit
Alternative Sound Bridge
- Switch to non-synchronous occurs before the
cut, rather than after it
- The Graduate (1967)
Codes of Sound Design
 5) Off-screen Sound
Space
- the area just beyond
the frame of the line
whose existence is
defined through sound
- non-synchronous
- Jackie Brown (1997)
Check out how off-screen
sound space is
manipulated in this clip
Codes of Sound Design
 6) Sound Montage
- editing of sounds into highly intricate and
complex patterns that create meaning and
emotion
- Apocalypse Now (1979)
Types of Sound (more specific)
 1) Dialogue – characters speaking
- Voice over narration – monologue that
accompanies images that may or may not be
delivered by someone on screen
 ADR – Automated Dialogue Replacement
actors dubbing dialogue in post-production
- Character Speech
- Consistent with characters
- Hamlet (1996) vs. Any Given Sunday (1999)
Types of Sound (more specific)
 2) Sound Effects
- Falls into one of two categories:
- Effects design – creative manipulation of
sound sources (layering sounds in instead of a
direct, live recording)
- Foley technique – direct recording of live
sound effects that are performed in
synchronization with the picture after filming
is complete
Types of Sound (more specific)
 3) Movie Music
- Has always been a part of film, dating back to silent
film era, however not original music was used
- used to follow action on screen and to illustrate a
character’s emotions
Movie Music
 The process:
- spotting, preparing a cue sheet,
composing, performance and
recording, mixing
- A composer will create the
score using a copy of the film
with a digital time code
- Perform the score in
conjunction with viewing the
film
- Mixing involves layering all
aspects of the film’s sound
design
Movie Music
 FUNCTIONS OF MOVIE MUSIC:
1) Setting the scene (using authentic
instruments particular to a certain locale)
2) Adding emotional meaning
3) Background filler
4) Creating continuity (use of a leitmotif, a
musical label that is assigned to a character,
a place, an idea, or an emotion)
5) Emphasizing climaxes
Contemporary Movie Music
 The debate rages over the use of contemporary pop
music vs. traditional symphonic soundtrack
 Forrest Gump (1994) and Natural Born Killers (1994)
vs. The Dark Knight (2008) and Star Trek (2009).
 Robin Hood: Prince of Theives (1991) – “Everything I
Do…”